Michel Legrand

Michel Jean Legrand (Template:IPA; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist,<ref name="hindu">Template:Cite news</ref> and singer. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many songs.<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref> His scores for two of the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations. Legrand won his first Oscar for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968),<ref name=hallfame>Template:Cite web</ref> and additional Oscars for Summer of '42 (1971) and Barbra Streisand's Yentl (1983).

Life and career

Legrand was born in Paris<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to his father, Raymond Legrand, who was himself a conductor and composer,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and his mother, Marcelle Der-Mikaëlian, who was the sister of conductor Jacques Hélian.<ref name="rte">Template:Cite journal</ref> Raymond and Marcelle were married in 1929.<ref name="rte" /> His maternal grandfather was Armenian.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legrand composed more than two hundred film and television scores.<ref name="dw">Template:Cite web</ref> He won three Oscars<ref name=guard>Template:Cite web</ref> and five Grammys.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris from age 11, working with, among others, Nadia Boulanger<ref name="auto" /> and graduated with top honors as both a composer and a pianist.<ref name="dw" /> He burst upon the international music scene at 22 when his album I Love Paris (album) became a surprise hit. He established his name in the United States by working with such jazz stars as Miles Davis and Stan Getz.<ref name=hindu /> His sister Christiane Legrand was a member of The Swingle Singers and his niece Victoria Legrand is a member of the dream pop band Beach House.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legrand composed music for Jacques Demy's films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) (from which Recit de Cassard came and in turn, in English became the standard Watch What Happens) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), from which the relyricized "You Must Believe in Spring" is considered a jazz standard. Legrand appeared and performed in Agnès Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7 (1961). He also composed music for Joseph Losey's Eva (1962), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) (which features "The Windmills of Your Mind"), Ice Station Zebra (1968), The Picasso Summer (1969), The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (1970), The Go-Between (1971), Summer of '42 (1971), Clint Eastwood's Breezy (1973), The Three Musketeers (1973), Orson Welles's last-completed film F for Fake (1974), TriStar Pictures 1998 family film Madeline, and would later compose the score for Welles's posthumously released movie The Other Side of the Wind (2018). He also composed the score for Yentl (1983), as well as the film score for Louis Malle's film Atlantic City (1980). His instrumental version of the theme from Brian's Song charted 56th in 1972 on the Billboard's pop chart.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Michel Legrand Haymarket 2008.jpg

Legrand in 2008

Legrand died of sepsis,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> during the night of 25–26 January 2019, at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, where he had been hospitalized for two weeks for a pulmonary infection. His funeral was held in Paris at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on 1 February 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was interred at the Père Lachaise Cemetery.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He remained active until his death and had concerts scheduled to take place in the spring.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Musical theatre

In 1997, Legrand composed the score for the musical Le Passe-muraille, with a book by Didier Van Cauwelaert. It premiered on Broadway in 2002 as Amour and was translated into English by Jeremy Sams and was directed by James Lapine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This musical was his Broadway debut<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and he was nominated for a Tony Award in 2003 for Best Score.<ref name="playbill">Template:Cite web</ref> Later he recorded Legrand Affair with Melissa Errico,<ref name="playbill" /> a 100-piece symphony orchestra that included songs with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The world premiere of the new musical Marguerite from Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, the creators of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, included music by Michel Legrand and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. Marguerite is set during World War II in occupied Paris, and was inspired by the romantic novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils. It premiered in May 2008 at the Haymarket Theatre, London and was directed by Jonathan Kent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards

Template:More citations needed Legrand won three Oscars (from 13 nominations), five Grammys, and was nominated for an Emmy. His first Academy Award win was in 1969 for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind", followed with the Academy Award for his music for Summer of ’42 in 1972 and for Yentl in 1984.<ref name=guard/>

Following are a selection of the awards and nominations with which Legrand's works have been honored:

Academy Award awards and nominations

Source: AllMovie<ref name=allmovie>"Legrand Awards", AllMovie.com, retrieved 30 January 2019</ref>

• Best Original Score, Substantially Original Score: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1965) - nominated<ref name=oscar65>"1965 Academy Awards", Infoplease.com, retrieved 29 January 2019</ref>
• Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical): The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) - nominated<ref name=oscar68>"1968 Academy Awards", Infoplease.com, retrieved 29 January 2019</ref>
• Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score: The Young Girls of Rochefort (1968) - nominated<ref name=oscar68/>
• Best Original Dramatic Score: Summer of '42 (1971) - won
• Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score: Yentl (1983) - won
• Best Original Song:
  • "I Will Wait for You" from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1965) - nominated<ref name=oscar65/>
  • "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) - won<ref name=oscar68/>
  • "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" from The Happy Ending (1969) - nominated
  • "Pieces of Dreams" from Pieces of Dreams (1970) - nominated<ref>"'Pieces of Dreams' Awards", Tcm.com, retrieved 30 January 2019</ref>
  • "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" from Best Friends (1982) - nominated
  • "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" from Yentl (1983) - nominated
  • "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983) - nominated

Golden Globe awards and nominations

Source: All Movie<ref name=allmovie/>

• Original Score:
  • The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)<ref name=thomas>" 'The Thomas Crown Affair' Golden Globe Winners and Nominees", Goldenglobes.com, retrieved 30 January 2019</ref>
  • The Happy Ending (1969)
  • Wuthering Heights (1970)
  • Le Mans (1971)
  • Summer of '42 (1971)
  • Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
  • Breezy (1973)
  • Yentl (1983)<ref name=yent>" 'Yentl' Golden Globe Winners and Nominees" goldenglobes.com, retrieved 30 January 2019</ref>
• Original Song:
  • "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) (won)<ref name=thomas/>
  • "What are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" from The Happy Ending (1969)
  • "Pieces of Dreams" from Pieces of Dreams (1970)
  • "Breezy's Song" from Breezy (1973)
  • "Yesterday's Dreams" from Falling in Love Again (1980)
  • "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983)<ref name=yent/>

Grammy Award awards and nominations

Source: Grammy.com<ref>"Michel Legrand Grammy wards", Grammy.com, retrieved 29 January 2019</ref>

• Best Instrumental Composition: "Theme from Summer of '42 (The Summer Knows)" (1971) - win
• Best Instrumental Arrangement: "Theme From Summer Of '42" (1971) - nomination
• Best Pop Instrumental Performance: "Theme From Summer Of '42" (1971) - nomination
• Best arrangement accompanying vocalist: What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? (Sarah Vaughan) (1972) - win<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Song of the year: "The Summer Knows" from Summer of '42 (1972) - nomination
• Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): "The Summer Knows" (1972) - nomination
• Best instrumental composition: "Brian's Song" [TV] (1972) - win
• Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special: The Three Musketeers (1974) - nomination
• Best Instrumental Composition: "Images" (1975) win
• Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band: "Images" (1975) win
• Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special: Yentl (1984) - nomination
• Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals: Yentl (Barbra Streisand) (1984) - nomination
• Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals: "Nature Boy" (track from "Unforgettable") (1991) - nomination<ref>"Other Grammy Nominees" Los Angeles Times, 10 January 1991</ref>
• Best Instrumental Arrangement: "Where Or When" (Track from: "Happy Radio Days", Erato Records) (1998) - nomination<ref>Staff. "Grammy Nominations List, page 3" Variety, 5 January 1999</ref>

Theatre nominations

• Tony Award for Best Original Score: Amour (2002)<ref name=amour>Amour Playbill (vault), retrieved 29 January 2019</ref>
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Orchestrations: Amour (2002)<ref name=amour/>

Emmy Award nominations

• Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Limited Series or a Special (Dramatic Underscore): A Woman Called Golda [TV] (1982)<ref>"34th Emmy Awards-Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Limited Series or Special (Dramatic Underscore) - 1982", Emmys.com, retrieved 29 January 2019</ref>

Fennecus nominations

• Song score, original or adaptation: Yentl (1983)
• Original song: "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983)

Apex nominations

• Original score, comedy: Best Friends (1982)
• Original song, drama: "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl (1983)
• Original song score/adaptation/compilation, drama: Yentl (1983)

Australian Film Institute Award

• Best Original Music Score: Dingo (1991) win<ref>" 'Dingo' Miscellaneous Notes", Tcm.com, retrieved 30 January 2019</ref>

Prix Moliere Award

• Best musical (1997): Le Passe-Muraille<ref>fr:Le Passe-muraille</ref>Template:Circular reference (French stage version of Amour)<ref>Sommer, Elyse. "Review, 'Amour'", Curtainup.com, 24 October 2002</ref>

ASCAP

• Henry Mancini Award, awarded by ASCAP, for Le Passe-Muraille (1998)<ref>Template:Usurped, Legrandofficial.com</ref><ref>"ASCAP Henry Mancini Award", Ascap.com, retrieved 30 January 2019</ref>

Golden Eagle Award

• Golden Eagle Award: Outstanding contribution to world cinema (2002)

Others

• In 2018, asteroid 31201 Michellegrand was named in his honour.<ref>Template:M+J The International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center (31201) Michellegrand = 1998 AT5 = 1999 KZ20 - Discovered at Caussols on 1998-01-08 by ODAS.</ref>

Documentary

"Michel Legrand, let the music play", directed by Gregory Monro in 2018

"Once upon a time Michel Legrand", directed by David Hertzog Dessites in 2024

External links

• Michel Legrand at the British Film Institute
• Template:IMDb name
• Template:IBDB name
• Interview with Michel Legrand at the Press Launch for Margeruite in London UK